Daniel Sparks Goldman Sachs Bio?

Goldman Sachs executives testifying today included Daniel L. Sparks, a former partner and head of the mortgages department in the Goldman Sachs Group.

Facing accusations that he had hurt clients, lenders, and the overall economy, Goldman Sachs Group Daniel Sparks stressed that the firm was managing its risk on individual positions rather than making a broad bet against the future of the housing market.

What is the bio of Daniel Sparks from Goldman Sachs? Does Daniel have a biography?

Members of the Levin’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, winding up a probe of Goldman Sachs that has lasted more than a year, used today’s hearing to pepper current and former executives with questions about their duty to clients and the ethics of betting against the housing market as the bank also sold mortgage-linked securities to customers.

Among Goldman Sachs executives was mister Daniel Sparks.

There is not an official bio for Daniel Sparks, but I'm sure his biography is up in wikipedia. Daniel Sparks talked about his life today.

This is what Daniel Sparks said.

"My name is Dan Sparks, and from late 2006 until mid-2008, I was the head of the Mortgage Department at Goldman Sachs. The three men who are with me today -- Fabrice Tourre, Joshua Birnbaum, and Michael Swenson -- all reported up to me during that period.

I joined Goldman Sachs in 1989 as an analyst after graduating from college. My intention was to stay for two years, and I ended up staying for nineteen. I would not have stayed if the people I worked with did not have high ethical standards. The culture at Goldman Sachs was one in which excellence and integrity were expected.

The business of Goldman's Mortgage Department involved structuring, underwriting, distributing, and trading mortgage and assetbacked products, including loans, securities, and derivatives. All these activities involved clients, and all involved risk. The business was competitive, and Goldman participated without a significant residential mortgage origination platform."

n a tense exchange, Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, asked Dan Sparks, former head of the mortgage department at Goldman Sachs, whether he felt obliged to tell clients when he was betting against their trades.

Levin pointed to a particular transaction that one of Sparks' bosses termed a "sh***y deal." The Senator used the phrase "sh***y deal" at least a half dozen times.

Sparks did not respond directly, and said it was not his own description of the transaction.

The U.S. claims Goldman Sachs misled investors by failing to disclose that hedge fund Paulson & Co. -- which was betting against the U.S. mortgage market -- helped the CDO manager select securities to include in the portfolio involved in the SEC suit. Goldman Sachs has called the lawsuit “completely unfounded.”